Beds and Chambers in Late Medieval England

Beds and Chambers in Late Medieval England PDF Author: Hollie L. S. Morgan
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
ISBN: 1903153719
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
First full-length interdisciplinary study of the effect of these everyday surroundings on literature, culture and the collective consciousness of the late middle ages. The bed, and the chamber which contained it, was something of a cultural and social phenomenon in late-medieval England. Their introduction into some aristocratic and bourgeois households captured the imagination of late-medievalEnglish society. The bed and chamber stood for much more than simply a place to rest one's head: they were symbols of authority, unparalleled spaces of intimacy, sanctuaries both for the powerless and the powerful. This change inphysical domestic space shaped the ways in which people thought about less tangible concepts such as gender politics, communication, God, sex and emotions. Furthermore, the practical uses of beds and chambers shaped and were shaped by artistic and literary production. This volume offers the first interdisciplinary study of the cultural meanings of beds and chambers in late-medieval England. It draws on a vast array of literary, pragmatic and visual sources, including romances, saints' lives, lyrics, plays, wills, probate inventories, letters, church and civil court documents, manuscript illumination and physical objects, to shed new light on the ways in which beds and chambersfunctioned as both physical and conceptual spaces. Hollie L.S. Morgan is a Research Fellow in the School of History and Heritage, University of Lincoln.

Beds and Chambers in Late Medieval England

Beds and Chambers in Late Medieval England PDF Author: Hollie L. S. Morgan
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
ISBN: 1903153719
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Get Book Here

Book Description
First full-length interdisciplinary study of the effect of these everyday surroundings on literature, culture and the collective consciousness of the late middle ages. The bed, and the chamber which contained it, was something of a cultural and social phenomenon in late-medieval England. Their introduction into some aristocratic and bourgeois households captured the imagination of late-medievalEnglish society. The bed and chamber stood for much more than simply a place to rest one's head: they were symbols of authority, unparalleled spaces of intimacy, sanctuaries both for the powerless and the powerful. This change inphysical domestic space shaped the ways in which people thought about less tangible concepts such as gender politics, communication, God, sex and emotions. Furthermore, the practical uses of beds and chambers shaped and were shaped by artistic and literary production. This volume offers the first interdisciplinary study of the cultural meanings of beds and chambers in late-medieval England. It draws on a vast array of literary, pragmatic and visual sources, including romances, saints' lives, lyrics, plays, wills, probate inventories, letters, church and civil court documents, manuscript illumination and physical objects, to shed new light on the ways in which beds and chambersfunctioned as both physical and conceptual spaces. Hollie L.S. Morgan is a Research Fellow in the School of History and Heritage, University of Lincoln.

The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval England

The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval England PDF Author: Phillipa Hardman
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
ISBN: 1843844729
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 491

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Book Description
The first full-length examination of the medieval Charlemagne tradition in the literature and culture of medieval England, from the Chanson de Roland to Caxton. The Matter of France, the legendary history of Charlemagne, had a central but now largely unrecognised place in the multilingual culture of medieval England. From the early claim in the Chanson de Roland that Charlemagne held England as his personal domain, to the later proliferation of Middle English romances of Charlemagne, the materials are woven into the insular political and cultural imagination. However, unlike the wide range of continental French romances, the insular tradition concentrates on stories of a few heroic characters: Roland, Fierabras, Otinel. Why did writers and audiences in England turn again and again to these narratives, rewriting and reinterpreting them for more than two hundred years? This book offers the first full-length, in-depth study of the tradition as manifested in literature and culture. It investigates the currency and impact of the Matter of France with equal attention to English and French-language texts, setting each individual manuscript or early printed text in its contemporary cultural and political context. The narratives are revealed to be extraordinarily adaptable, using the iconic opposition between Carolingian and Saracen heroes to reflect concerns with national politics, religious identity, the future of Christendom, chivalry and ethics, and monarchy and treason. PHILLIPA HARDMAN is Readerin Medieval English Literature (retired) at the University of Reading; MARIANNE AILES is Senior Lecturer in French at the University of Bristol.

Sexual Culture in the Literature of Medieval Britain

Sexual Culture in the Literature of Medieval Britain PDF Author: Amanda Hopkins
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
ISBN: 184384379X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
An examination into aspects of the sexual as depicted in a variety of medieval texts, from Chaucer and Malory to romance and alchemical treatises.

Sleep and its spaces in Middle English literature

Sleep and its spaces in Middle English literature PDF Author: Megan G. Leitch
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 152615109X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
Middle English literature is intimately concerned with sleep and the spaces in which it takes place. In the medieval English imagination, sleep is an embodied and culturally determined act. It is both performed and interpreted by characters and contemporaries, subject to a particular habitus and understood through particular hermeneutic lenses. While illuminating the intersecting medical and moral discourses by which it is shaped, sleep also sheds light on subjects in favour of which it has hitherto been overlooked: what sleep can enable (dreams and dream poetry) or what it can stand in for or supersede (desire and sex). This book argues that sleep mediates thematic concerns and questions in ways that have ethical, affective and oneiric implications. At the same time, it offers important contributions to understanding different Middle English genres: romance, dream vision, drama and fabliau.

A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases PDF Author: Christopher Corèdon
Publisher: D. S. Brewer
ISBN: 9781843841388
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
The first dictionary of medieval terms intended for the non-specialist with an interest in the medieval world.

What We Did in Bed

What We Did in Bed PDF Author: Brian Fagan
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300245017
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
A social history that pulls back the covers on the most intimate piece of furniture in our lives: “Entertaining . . . will keep you awake long into the night.” —Paul Chrystal, author of The History of Sweets Louis XIV ruled France from his bedchamber. Winston Churchill governed Britain from his during World War II. Travelers routinely used to bed down with complete strangers, and whole families shared beds in many preindustrial households. Beds were expensive items—and often for show. Tutankhamun was buried on a golden bed, wealthy Greeks were sent to the afterlife on dining beds, and deceased middle-class Victorians were propped up on a bed in the parlor. In this sweeping social history that spans seventy thousand years, Brian Fagan and Nadia Durrani look at the endlessly varied role of the bed through time. This was a place for sex, death, childbirth, storytelling, and sociability as well as sleeping. But who did what with whom, why, and how could vary incredibly depending on the time and place. It is only in the modern era that the bed has transformed into a private, hidden zone—and its rich social history has largely been forgotten. Includes photographs

A Companion to Gender History

A Companion to Gender History PDF Author: Teresa A. Meade
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470692820
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 691

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Book Description
A Companion to Gender History surveys the history of womenaround the world, studies their interaction with men in genderedsocieties, and looks at the role of gender in shaping humanbehavior over thousands of years. An extensive survey of the history of women around the world,their interaction with men, and the role of gender in shaping humanbehavior over thousands of years. Discusses family history, the history of the body andsexuality, and cultural history alongside women’s history andgender history. Considers the importance of class, region, ethnicity, race andreligion to the formation of gendered societies. Contains both thematic essays and chronological-geographicessays. Gives due weight to pre-history and the pre-modern era as wellas to the modern era. Written by scholars from across the English-speaking world andscholars for whom English is not their first language.

Warrior Churchmen of Medieval England, 1000-1250

Warrior Churchmen of Medieval England, 1000-1250 PDF Author: Craig M. Nakashian
Publisher: Boydell Press is
ISBN: 9781783271627
Category : Church history
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
8 The Angevins, Part II (Richard I, John, and Henry III): Crusaders for King and Christ -- Conclusion: The Thirteenth Century and Beyond -- Bibliography -- Index

Parish Priests and Their People in the Middle Ages in England

Parish Priests and Their People in the Middle Ages in England PDF Author: Edward Lewes Cutts
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Church history
Languages : en
Pages : 644

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Book Description


Hers To Command

Hers To Command PDF Author: Margaret Moore
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN: 1460306031
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
A young noblewoman begs a knight to protect her land but she cannot protect her heart from him in this medieval romance by a USA Today bestseller. Sir Henry was a knight-errant, capable of impressive prowess on the battlefield . . . and in bed. Finding two sisters—one stunningly beautiful, the other steadfast and determined—waiting patiently in his chamber, he entertained their proposition: a generous sum in exchange for commanding their men-at-arms in a battle to save their land. Seduced by the beauty of Gisele, yet irresistibly drawn to the intelligence of Mathilde, a proud woman as complex as her secrets, Henry accepts their offer. But as invaders close in, it is Mathilde who must dare to trust her deepest desires—and the man willing to fight for all he is worth to prove his honor. Praise for Hers to Command “Touching . . . Colorful and compelling details of life in the Middle Ages, from battle strategies to food, abound.” —Publishers Weekly